SUMMARY
The Casanare Peasant Self-Defense Forces (ACC) was a paramilitary group that operated primarily in the Colombian departments of Casanare, Meta, Boyacá, and Cundinamarca between the late 1970s and 2004. Originally formed as a self-defense group against the ELN guerrilla, it evolved into a consolidated armed group financed by drug trafficking and marked by political interference and territorial control. Unlike most paramilitary groups in Colombia, the ACC refused to join the United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). This refusal ultimately triggered one of the bloodiest paramilitary conflicts in Colombia, as the AUC moved to assert control over Casanare through one of its factions, the “Centauros Bloc”, led by Miguel Arroyave.
The group was founded in the late 1970s by cattle rancher Héctor Buitrago, known as “Tripas.” While initially created in response to guerrilla extortion, the ACC quickly developed into a criminal enterprise with ties to major drug traffickers, including Gonzalo Rodríguez Gacha, one of the leaders of the Medellín Cartel. After Buitrago’s capture in 1997, the leadership passed to his son, Héctor Germán Buitrago, alias “Martín Llanos.” Under his command, the ACC expanded its influence with the support of local elites, political figures, and drug trafficking networks. Investigations later revealed political pacts with local officials, control over public resources, and collaboration with members of the security forces, including shared operations and tacit tolerance of ACC activities.
As the group consolidated power, it implemented a regime of social control through forced disappearances, targeted killings, and campaigns of “social cleansing” against community leaders, farmers, and human rights defenders. It occupied strategic corridors, including the Cusiana and Cravo Sur river valleys, and key mountainous areas connecting Casanare to Boyacá and Cundinamarca.
In 2002, after the ACC refused to join the AUC, tensions erupted into open war with the Centauros Bloc of the AUC, led by Miguel Arroyave. The AUC sought to take over the ACC’s territory and secure control of key drug trafficking routes in the region. The conflict devastated the Casanare department and the surrounding areas, with both groups committing widespread violence. Despite initial resistance, the ACC’s military capacity gradually eroded under sustained attacks.
The ACC refused to participate in the national demobilization process led by the government of Álvaro Uribe, arguing it was designed for narcotraffickers. In 2004, the Colombian Army launched Operation Santuario, a large-scale military offensive that dismantled the group. Its main leader, “Martín Llanos,” fled and was captured years later. The ACC's command structure collapsed, and the group was effectively disbanded.
The ACC has been involved in the non-state and one-sided violence of UCDP-organized violence.
